


with bated breath

by Fatale (femme)



Series: post episode ficlets [2]
Category: Shadowhunters (TV)
Genre: Fluff, Gen, Post-Episode: Season 3 Episode 3, alec and izzy are little kids, because it's adorable ok
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-05
Updated: 2018-04-05
Packaged: 2019-04-18 20:33:56
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 504
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14221275
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/femme/pseuds/Fatale
Summary: Since they received news that their grandmother died, their mother has not gotten out of bed for two days.Alec sits outside her door, worried. He doesn’t know what to do; he just wants to make everything okay. That’s where Izzy finds him and hands him an old card, discolored at the edges with a messy, faded scrawl.---The first time Alec and Izzy cook for their mom.





	with bated breath

**Author's Note:**

> oooh, this show keeps punching me in the feels.

 

 

Since they received news that their grandmother died, their mother has not gotten out of bed for two days.

Alec sits outside her door, worried. He doesn’t know what to do; he just wants to make everything okay. That’s where Izzy finds him and hands him an old card, discolored at the edges with a messy, faded scrawl.

“I was looking through some old boxes for something to cheer Mom up, and I found this. It’s grandmother’s old recipe,” she says excitedly. “I recognize the handwriting. We should make this for Mom.”

Izzy always has the best ideas. He follows her to the kitchen, and they check to make sure they have the ingredients.

Alec lays everything out on the counter carefully.

“I’ll cut the vegetables and you can measure out everything,” Alec tells her seriously. “Knives are sharp and dangerous.”

Izzy sticks her tongue out at him before saying, “I know that, dummy.” But she listens and starts measuring out the broth and adding it to the stock pot, teetering precariously on the edge of a step stool. Alec watches her closely out of the corner of his eye. He doesn’t need to - she’s perfectly capable - but he does it anyway. Izzy is competent, idealistic, smart and mouthy, and always getting into trouble for it. Alec could honestly not be more proud of her.

Vegetables chopped, he adds everything to the broth, and Izzy puts the lid on it to let the stew simmer. Izzy has some studying to do in her room, so Alec grabs a book he’s half-finished and sits on the floor, waiting.

  
\---

 

When the vegetables and meat are kind of tender, he goes to find Izzy and brings her back. “We forgot to add the flour,” she says and grabs a measuring cup. She dumps half a cup into the stew and gives it a good stir.

They both peer into the pot - the stew is a milky color now and kind of lumpy. Izzy dips a spoon in and tastes it, then shrugs. “Seems okay to me.”

She hands Alec the spoon, who tries it next. It’s a bit grainy and the radishes are bitter, but it’s a really old recipe and maybe that’s how they used to like it?

Alec ladles some into a bowl, and Izzy grabs a spoon and napkin.

 

\---

 

The drapes are drawn in their parent’s room, the air heavy and still.

“Mom?” Izzy asks.

“Isabelle,” Maryse says, voice scratchy with disuse. She sits up, face bare and blotchy, dark hair tangled.

“We made you something,” Alec says and hands her the bowl. Next, Izzy sets the spoon and napkin in her lap.  
  
The expression on their mom’s face is strange, and Alec couldn’t hazard a guess as to what it means. He’s never seen his mother so undone before.

She takes a small bite, and her eyes widen.

“Good?” Izzy asks, smiling tentatively. Alec bites his lip, clutching at the covers.

Maryse swallows. “The best,” she says softly, smiling, eyes shining. “It’s perfect.”

 


End file.
